Stationary gas turbines have been known for a long time from the extensive prior art. One known type of stationary gas turbine is equipped with combustors, known as tubular combustors or can-type combustors, which are evenly distributed around the circumference. Each of these tubular combustors always comprises a burner, sitting in the gas turbine housing, having a burner pipe to which a transition pipe or transition connects. The transition pipes guide the hot gas produced in the individual cylindrical burner pipes into an annular duct. To this end, the transition pipes have, on the burner side, a circular cross section which turns into a sector-shaped cross section on the outlet side. The sector-shaped cross sections of all the transition pipes generally abut against one another in the circumferential direction such that the hot gas produced in the individual tubular combustors can be guided, with little loss, into the annular duct of the gas turbine. In the annular duct, the turbine blades arranged in the turbine are arranged in stages.
When servicing, if one of the burners, the burner pipes or the transition pipes has to be replaced, it was the case until now that installers had to release the attachment of the relevant gas turbine component, after which this component could be removed—by hand or with the aid of a hoist—from inside the housing through the burner opening arranged in the housing.
Thereafter, and also during assembly of the gas turbine, functional components to be inserted can then also be moved with the aid of the hoist to the gas turbine and then into it.
In particular, using the hoist, components to be detached or attached on or in the lower housing half can only be transported to their intended location in an inadequate manner since the gas turbine housing partially blocks the path of the hoist or its cables or chains.
In order to make this work easier, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,075 discloses a burner replacement system in which a rail is attached at a circumferential flange connection of two axially adjacent parts of the gas turbine housing, wherein a carriage of complex design can be moved along this rail in order to transport the burner to be installed. The carriage is equipped with an articulation and with a burner carrier which can be displaced in translation such that it can transport individual burners of the gas turbine to their intended location. With the aid of the known burner replacement system, the transition pipes can also be removed from inside the gas turbine or inserted inside the gas turbine.
A disadvantage of the known device is, however, that it is very large and requires a comparatively large maneuvering space around the gas turbine housing. This free maneuvering space is so large that its outermost radius is far greater than the outermost radius of the gas turbine housing. However, this maneuvering space is not always available. A further disadvantage of the known device is that, on account of the comparatively long and free-ending rod assembly on the carriage, and the considerable weights of the components to be replaced, such as burners and transition pipes, these can only be positioned with insufficient precision with respect to the component opening through which they are to be introduced into the gas turbine.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,862 shows a further development of the device from U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,075. In order to further support the carriage end, which previously projected freely, a second endless circumferential rail is provided in the central section of the compressor. One disadvantage, however, is the extensive configuration of this variant. In addition, it required the annular fuel distributor to be dismantled before mounting the burner removing device.
Furthermore, a tool for removing combustor components of a gas turbine is known from EP 2 236 939 A1. The tool comprises a telescopic unit for moving the combustor component into the gas turbine. However, the tool must be attached to each insertion opening, which is comparatively laborious.
In addition, a crane solution for installing and removing combustor components of a gas turbine is known from EP 2070663 A1.